Posts Tagged ‘Kingdom of God’

God is in the Highs and Lows

We experienced some highs and lows this week. The week started with our incubator training for church planters, which is always a highlight. Then this weekend I was an assessor for a Discovery Center for sixteen church planting candidates. Usually we spread those events out, but this time they happened on the same week.

Dawn’s Dad, Alfred Moore Passed Through Heaven’s Gates

Alfred Moore

In the middle of the week, in the middle of all this activity we sadly lost Dawn’s dad, Al. Alfred Moore went to be with the Lord at 2:12 AM EDT on Thursday, May 4. Dawn’s mom, Alice is thankful that Al didn’t experience any pain and that he didn’t suffer long after they discovered he had advanced stages of cancer. Dawn is with her mom and brother now in the Philadelphia area. When I talked to them today they mentioned that the Lord has given them peace as they mourn Al’s home going.

We appreciate your prayers for the Lord’s peace and comfort during this difficult time as we experience another significant loss so close to our daughter’s passing. The funeral will be on Saturday, May 13th.

God is On The Move Even Through These Difficult Days

The Lord is working in the midst of these momentary light afflictions. I’m grateful for the opportunities to invest in the lives of our leaders, pastors and church planters.

Incubator Church Planting Training

Three of the guys going through our incubator church planting training just started their church in the last few months. Many of them echoed the sentiments of our friend Petri, who is planting a church in Ensenada. Petri said that the principles we are training them in are coming just at the right time for him. He is taking what he learns during the incubator and sharing it with his core group.

One of the pastors in the group, Abraham said he was going to use what he learned with his leadership team as they had a meeting planned during the week. Many of the pastors there mentioned they hoped to implement what they were learning in their church.

Thank you Jesus for all the good things you are doing in the midst of our pain.

God is On The Move in Discovery

The Discovery Center

Then this weekend I was with eight couples who have a passion to seeing the Lord’s kingdom extended on the earth. Not all the couples are young, but they are youthful and have dreams and vision for a better tomorrow. It gives me energy when I’m with them. I also love being with the assessment team. They are great friends and we have a good time serving together. This is the joy of the Discovery Center.

Most of the candidates that are approved will go on to prepare themselves further and then plant a church in the next year. The hope, the vision and the passion to see the Lord bring change and tranformation to the lives of people in a new community is life giving.

God is with us, even in the middle of our pain. He is alive and he is on the move, which gives us life and it gives us hope.

The Need of Many Pastors

Dawn with Rocio and Ivan

I’m excited about seeing pastors equipped to do their work. The pastors I work with our choice men. They love God and they love the people they are serving.

Yet, there is a problem that I see frequently. Many of them have little training. This is especially pronounced when you compare the training they are receiving to what most church planters in the U.S. receive.

Training in Monterrey, Mexico

Some of the pastors that we are working with in Tijuana

That is one of the reasons I’m stoked that this next week I will be taking our good friend, pastor Ivan Casados to Monterrey Mexico for training on church planting. This will be a time of learning for both of us. We will learn together, and by going with Ivan it enables me to better coach and encourage him.

I am collaborating with our Mission to the World (MTW) team in Monterrey, Mexico. Our team there has developed The Center for Church Planting, which provides training for church planters. My hope is that one day we will be able to offer this training in Tijuana, but we are not there yet. Even though it’s hard to be patient, I know that’s what the Lord is calling us to.

MTW has a wonderful team in Monterrey, and I’m grateful that I get the opportunity to partner with them in ministry. It’s what kingdom work is all about – ministering with and alongside others to see God’s kingdom expand on earth.

This remains our prayer that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. O Lord, Hear our prayer! Hear our cry for help!

The Lord’s Prayer

The beautiful sunset at Imperial Beach

I grew up praying the “Our Father” or “The Lord’s Prayer”. The repetition caused the words to lose some of their significance.

In the last few years I’ve been struck by the wisdom and power found in this prayer that Jesus modeled for us. Of the many wonderful petitions and phrases in the Lord’s prayer, I’ve been especially drawn to the beginning of the prayer. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

I love to think of God’s kingdom expanding on the earth as the gospel is proclaimed. Dawn and I pray that this will be true of the border.

Lately we have also been praying through our present trial.

Our Plea to Our Heavenly Father

Dave and Dawn – thankful for the Lord’s renewing work on the border

We pray the Lord’s prayer, Jesus’ words:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. —Matthew 6:9,10 (ESV)

Dawn and I find it helpful and uplifting to pray the Lord’s prayer, then to add. “there is no sickness in heaven (we usually mention a specific sickness or ailment we have, or a family member has) so we pray that you will bring healing.”

I find it comforting to know that one day there will be no more pain and suffering. It is also consoling to realize that God brings some of heaven to earth. We long to see heaven realized.

There is Healing in His Wings

God is at work in some amazing ways. We know he is the God who heals.

We are also learning that when something bad happens to us we can look for him to do a good work, so that grace renewal stories begin to take place.

One example of this is that while we’ve been visiting the hospital over the last week, Dawn has had numerous opportunities to share her faith. Two people have prayed to receive Christ. Others have been encouraged, and the light of the gospel is going out in a place where there is much despair .

Missions at Covenant College

Dave & Dawn at Covenant College

After a wonderful weekend at Mission to the World’s (MTW) The Spirit Moves missions conference, Dawn and I visited Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Covenant held their missions conference this week, and we sensed God’s Spirit as we participated in the conference.

We both love the opportunity to interact with college students. It’s hard to believe that all three of our grown children, David Jr., Jon and Hannah are college age. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that we enjoy this age group. The youthful energy and excitement about living life to its fullest is refreshing.

I spoke in two missions classes while we were at the college. I thoroughly enjoyed the time with the students. They expressed genuine interest as we explored the themes of cross-cultural church planting in a Hispanic context. I challenged the students to consider the border as a place to minister.

Some of them are praying about the possibility of doing an internship with us next summer! Pray that the Lord blesses us and the border with some good interns.

Prayer for New Missionaries

Dawn and I feel led to pray specifically for workers to join us in the church planting ministry on the border. Our hope is to see the city renewed and the border revived as we serve in the bi-national city of San Diego – Tijuana.

These two conferences served as a reminder of our need to set prayer goals, and that Jesus calls us to pray for men and women to join us in mission.

Pray for 10

Dawn with Ashley Bates a friend from Colorado who is a student at Covenant College

We would like to ask you to join us in prayer for a team of 10 people. The main needs we have are for church planters, a trainer, a community development coordinator, a coordinator of short-term missions and interns. These are the main needs we have now.

Our desire is to pair up MTW missionaries with Mexican church planters in Tijuana, Ensenada and Mexicali. We already have one MTW family that will be pairing up with a Mexican church planter in La Paz. God is expanding his work, and in doing so his kingdom.

That is our prayer that the kingdom of God will expand on earth as it is in heaven.

I mentioned in my last post that MTW has a prayer goal to pray for 150 new missionaries by 2015. Join us in that prayer goal, and pray that some of those 150 will be drawn to the border.

I believe that some of the labor force will come from these young people we met at Covenant College. This is the Lord’s work, and he is committed to building his church!

God is at Work in Tijuana

Dawn with Martha Velazquez

Dawn and I just returned (Monday night) from an encouraging meeting with some leaders associated with Lo Mejor del Trigo in Tijuana.

Daniel Nuñez led the meeting. He asked the pastors to share with one another about the highlights they were experiencing in their church, and in the region they were supervising. The good things that God is doing. Then they shared the struggles or challenges they are facing. I enjoyed being able to rub shoulders with them.

I love God’s kingdom, and it spurs me on to keep serving when I learn of the ways God is working.

Daniel showed me a short video of the one of the churches that he started a few years ago. They just completed the building and dedicated the church on October 6, 2013. The Mariners church in Orange County partnered with the church in the community of Rojo Gomez to put a lot of man power, love and resources into this project.

Our good friends Abraham and Martha Velazquez are leading this church.

Dreaming About Church Expansion

The meeting with church planters and leaders

This week I went around Tijuana with Daniel Nuñez and a new friend, JD Pearring looking at some of the new church plants, and dreaming about the future. There is some land for sale that could make for a good site for the next church plant.

One of the things I love about Daniel is that he is always looking to grow the church. His goal is to see 50 churches started in 20 years. Lo Mejor del Trigo already has 20 churches, so the Lord is blessing and the churches are growing.

JD works with Transformation Ministries and they have a heart to see the kingdom expanded through church planting and church revitalization. I enjoyed the opportunity to meet him, and learn more about the ministry that he is associated with.

Bringing Two of My Loves Together

Watching the game with Daniel Nuñez, JD Pearring and some of the other guys

Daniel and JD invited me to go to a meeting at Petco Park for church planters, and then to watch a game after. I didn’t need my arm twisted to accept that invite.

There were a number of pastors and leaders from California and Tijuana at the meeting. I loved meeting and interacting with these men and women who have such a heart for seeing the kingdom of God expanded on earth as it is in heaven.

One of my loves apart from church planting is baseball, so it was a great treat to have some fun and interact with the guys at the ballpark!

I enjoy interacting with other people who are passionate about the church. I feel like I always come away enriched, and often I even get a few new ideas. There usually are some opportunities to minister together in the future through these connections. I believe that God loves it when different, but like-minded ministries come together for the good of the city.

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

Lord, thank you so much for kingdom connections, and for your heart to see the church built up. I pray that we will see a renewed city and a revived border as we work together for the kingdom. Please guide and lead us along the way. Bring the right people to join us in this effort!

We are not the same, but we serve our Lord and the city together. It pleases The Lord when his people dwell together in unity. Jesus prayed that his church would serve together as one.

A Word of Encouragement from a Key Partner

Pastor Stephen Phelan recently wrote a word of affirmation for our ministry.

“MTW‘s San Diego – Tijuana team lead by Dave Diaso is a catalytic partner playing a critical role in empowering us to ignite a church planting movement that so fills the binational city of San Diego/Tijuana with the gospel that it is renewed in ever way–socially, spiritually, and culturally. The San Diego – Tijuana team has enabled us to reach more Spanish-speakers through spearheading ESL classes and providing seasoned mentoring for young Spanish-speaking pastors and leaders. Moreover, MTW is fostering relationships with Mexican movement leaders south of the border that is paving the way for more churches to be planted in Tijuana. I praise God for our partnership with MTW and the Diasos! We would not be where we are today without MTW’s San Diego-Tijuana team!

Prayer at one of our staff meetings – Thank the Lord for these friends!

We have a mutual respect for Harbor led by pastor Stephen Phelan. It’s so good to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. I love ministering in partnership. I think when we do so it reflects the heart of The Lord.

O Lord, I do pray that you will continue to richly bless our partnerships and those that we serve with. Use the little that we have to offer to bring you honor and glory. Use it to see your kingdom expanded on earth as it is in heaven. Amen!